Rovio Announces China Entry

18 Jun Rovio Announces China Entry

Rovio Entertainment Ltd., developer of popular Angry Birds smartphone application game has recently announced big plans for the Chinese market. Rovio co-founder and chief marketing officer Peter Veterbacka says the company hopes to build a number of activity parks in China “in the not too distant future” in an exclusive interview with Xinhua. “We are looking at the amazing stories in Chinese history as themes for our parks,” Veterbacka said.

Plans for a theme park in Haining City in East China’s Zhejiang Province have already been announced and negotiations are underway with a number of other Chinese cities. The world’s first Angry Birds activity park opened in Finland in April. Vesterbacka’s philosophy is to make the parks part of the neighborhood, just like a school, grocery store or library. “Instead of building one massive amusement park, we’re planning to build hundreds, maybe even thousands of activity parks here in China,” Vsterbacka said.

With over 1 billion downloads to date, Angry Birds has become one of the most mainstream games in the market now. Over the past year, Rovio has been expanding its business beyond games and now sells plush toys, books and clothing. It even sold mooncakes featuring Angry Birds during last year’s mid-Autumn festival. “We built the fastest-growing brand in the world using a game called Angry Birds. We already have a very strong presence in the physical world. So its not just a game any more,” he said.

Announced last November, the company stated that China would be the first country to have Angry Birds retail stores. Vesterbacka said the company was working on creating a nice shopping experience for its Chinese fans, and promised some “interesting developments.” Additionally, earlier this month, the company launched a new online game in cooperation with Coca-Cola China and Chinese Olympic teams. It is set at the upcoming London Olympic Games. Link, Link